


Who Knows

by came_to_weeping



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Good Parent Jim "Chief" Hopper, Jopper addict, Protective Jim "Chief" Hopper, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, What Have I Done
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-04 16:45:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12775194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/came_to_weeping/pseuds/came_to_weeping
Summary: A little one-shot I cooked up today. Very bad typing and editing is my fault.Eleven has some observations. But what is she really seeing?ETA: this has grown a plot and now is well beyond a one-shot. I am only slightly ashamed. Hope you enjoy!





	1. Chapter 1

“You like Joyce.” Her voice was calm and matter of fact.

Hopper adjusted his grip on the steering wheel but he didn’t turn to face her. “Joyce is our friend, Jane. You know that.”

“No, not like that. You like her. Like Jonathan likes Nancy. Dad, you should—”

“Jane, no,” he said firmly, glancing quickly at her to try to get a read of her expression. Where was this even coming from? They had just come dinner at the Byers house like they always did on Thursdays and now he was driving them home and after five minutes in the car she started talking about Joyce and then started talking about him liking Joyce! What the hell?

“Nancy said, when a boy likes you, you can tell. She said there are signs to look for. So I looked. And you like Joyce.”

“I assure you, kiddo, you didn’t see what you think you saw.” He didn’t mean to be so gruff, but it was his go-to response when confronted with things he didn’t want to talk about. Usually, being a tall and broad man with an intimidating voice was enough to get people to quit asking questions, but it didn’t work on Jane.

“Yes. I did! Nancy said a boy who likes you will look at your mouth when you’re talking. You looked at Joyce’s mouth all through dinner. She said they look at you even when youre no looking at them and looked at Joyce all the time tonight. Nancy said boys will give you presents. Sometimes the presents are nice but sometimes they don’t make any sense. You brought Joyce groceries. Nancy—”

“Jane,” he said, fighting to keep his voice from raising. He briefly debated pulling over to have this conversation but it was already late and he had an early morning. He kept driving. “Look, Nancy was talking about boys. With Joyce and me, it’s different. We're adults. I had to look at Joyce cause all you kids were so loud I could barely hear her. And I brought Joyce groceries because she asked me to.”

“She said she didn’t ask for the wine. And you were sitting across from her. You could hear. But you kept looking at her and moving your hands and Nancy said—”

“Kid.” He wasn’t bellowing but he wasn’t talking softly anymore either. Just a few more minutes and they’d be home and she’d be in bed and not talking anymore. When had this girl started talking so much? “I told you. It’s not like that. And why were you talking to Nancy about boys liking you?”

Jane wasn’t swayed. “Nancy said a boy might get defensive and deny it if someone asks him about you.”

He took another breath. “You didn’t answer my question. Why were you talking to Nancy about boys liking you?”

"Not me!” the squeak in her voice made him relax a little. Her reaction was bashful and genuine. He immediately felt bad for embarrassing her. She continued, “Max. Max asked and I was there and Nancy said there were ways to tell if a boy likes you and things you can do to see for sure and she we right and Lucas likes Max and then you do the same things to Joyce and—"

“Okay, look, that’s enough.” His voice was still hard. They were pulling off the road now, back the long bumpy lane until the road ran out and they’d walk to the cabin. He wanted to move but for the time being the cabin was the most secure place for them. “Now, I’m very happy for Max and Lucas, and I’m happy Nancy was right, but Nancy is a kid. Just like Max and Lucas. It’s different with me and Joyce, okay? It’s. Different. I’m not mad, kid. Look at me,” he stopped the truck momentarily and turned his head to face his daughter. Her eyes were wide and she frowned slightly like she did when she as frustrated and unable to explain why. He tried to look understanding but authoritative. Fatherly. “Joyce has been through a lot. She lost someone—”

“Bob,” she said, nodding.

“Right. She lost Bob and her son was in trouble for a very long time. She’s had trauma. Not the exact same as we have but because of the same things. And because of that, we all have to stick together. So it’s my job to see that she has help when she needs it. She’s our friend. And we are mindful of our friends, right?”

She blinked. “Right.”

He turned his head back to the road and eased the Blazer back into motion. “ _Okay_ ,” he thought. “ _She understands. She’s still trying to learn everything about the world and she thought she saw something she didn’t. It’s fine_.”

“But Joyce likes you too. She did everything Nancy said to do when you're trying to see if a boy likes you and you did everything and she seemed happy and so you should tell her because—”

“Hey!” The shout left his throat and his chest lurched.

“—friends try to make each other happy!” she continued over him.

“Jane, listen to me.” They reached the parking spot. He abruptly stopped the truck and set the brake. He concentrated on making his tone even. “Joyce didn’t do what you think and neither did I. Look, I know friends are important and you’re trying to help. I know Joyce and Will being happy is important to you. And I know if you think something is gonna make me happy you try to do it. But this isn’t what you think. I’m sorry, kid. But you’re wrong.”

Jane pursed her lips and exhaled like she did when she wasn’t happy but wasn’t going to talk anymore. “ _Well, at least she’s quiet_ ,” he thought. Then, aloud, he said “Okay, we're home. You know the rules. Walk right ahead of me and no noise.”

"I know the rules.” She said softly, and exited the truck. The moon was bright lit the way easily to the cabin. He focused on Jane in front of him but kept his peripheral vision wide, looking for unusual motions or anything else that would trip his cop-senses that something wasn’t quite right. Nothing seemed out of place, but he was still vigilant. He wouldn’t be ambushed. He wouldn’t have his daughter taken from him. The paperwork was all in order and the lab had no reason to go after her now that they had come to a kind of truce about her gifts and training. But there was no telling who else knew what about the Hawkins Lab, and he wasn’t taking any more chances than he was already taking. The dinners were risky, but she wasn’t in school yet and she missed seeing her friends. He didn’t mind the evening out, to tell the truth. She was better company through the week if she got a chance to burn off her pre-teen energy with some kids her age regularly. The dinners let her socialize without really letting her out of his sight. “ _When did she talk to Nancy about boys?_ ” he thought, frowning. He hadn’t thought they’d been in separate rooms for long enough for a conversation like that to have happened.

She walked up the front steps and waited for him to unlock the door over her head. They both walked inside and shook off their coats and shoes. “Okay, it’s late, and I gotta be on the road by 5:30, so go get washed up and let’s get to bed, okay?”

She went to the bathroom without a word and closed the door sharply. He sighed. She was upset. She was always upset when she felt like he wasn't listening to her. He couldn’t imagine how much she must be going through, trying to adjust from an entire lifetime of being a lab rat to whatever kind of life it was he could give her. He set the coffee up for the next morning and began to unpack the leftovers Joyce had sent home. Smiling, he realized she had made an entire extra meatloaf and wrapped it up for them. There were more potatoes and carrots than he had seen in the pans from dinner. And half of the loaf of bread she’d asked for, and half of the cheese and ham as well. And some individual cans of pears and peaches that he hadn’t seen before. At the bottom of the bag he found a note that read “Hop—Thanks for being my personal shopper. Here's a meatloaf. I’m keeping all the wine. – J”

He chuckled and stared at the note. When had Joyce had a chance to put all this together? She must have been sneaky about it. If he knew she was sending him home with so much food, he would have tried to stop her.

“Dad?”

He snapped to attention. She was standing in the door to her bedroom, waiting for him. “Hey, kid. All ready for bed. Good! Did you brush your teeth?” he crossed the cabin to follow her into her bedroom so he could tuck her in. She was probably too old for that mind of thing, but she hasn’t had a normal childhood by any means, and she seemed to like it when he sat by her bed while she was going to sleep. He didn’t question it. He was too grateful to have a daughter to tuck into bed again.

“Yeeeesssssss,” she said, holding her mouth open wide in an exaggerated smile and exhaling in a puff. “Minty fresh!”

“Good! Your morning breath will stink up the whole cabin otherwise.”

She climbed into bed, giggling. “No way you stink like cigarettes and coffee! That’s worse than me!”

“Hey, don’t call me stinky!” he pulled the blankets up around her and sat in the chair beside her bed.

"You ready to sleep or do you want to talk for a minute?” Doc Owens had suggested she might sleep better if she felt reassured before bedtime, so he tried to make sure she felt safe and attended to.

She looked at him for a minute, and then drew a breath. “Daughters don’t lie either,” she said in a small voice.

“Do you mean about Joyce?” He sat up and resituated himself at the foot of the bed, taking her hand and encouraging her to look at him. “You just,” he cleared his throat. Oh, he had no poker face for lying about this sort of thing. “You just made a mistake. It’s okay.”

“You really don’t like Joyce?” Her brown eyes flickered from his hand on hers to his face.”

"I—” He coughed and looked down to their hands. “Joyce is a very special woman.” He looked up at Jane's face. “And she is a very good friend. But it’s different between Joyce and me. I'll explain better later on. But I know you weren’t lying. It’s okay, Janey.” He squeezed her hand.

She squeezed back. “Okay.” She yawned. “I can sleep now. Goodnight, Dad.”

He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Goodnight, kiddo.” He stood and walked to the door. “Leave it open?” he asked.

“Just a crack please.”

He shut the door almost the whole way and fixed the doorstop so it would stay put. He walked to the kitchen and eyed the bottle of Jameson sitting on top of the fridge. He considered going for a glass to settle his nerves, but he knew the alcohol would just make his sleep restless. He sighed and filled up a glass of water in the sink and drank it down. Then, he quietly made his way across the main room of the cabin to his bed. He shucked off his pants and shirt and crawled under the blankets in his long underwear.

Silence settled over the cabin. He could hear Jane begin to breathe slowly and steadily. He relaxed a little, happy she was resting so easily. His mind spun to the conversations he and Jane had over the evening. “ _Jesus_ ,” he thought. “ _I don’t know where she’s coming up with this stuff, but I am gonna have to watch my ass from here on out._ ” He groaned and flopped himself onto his stomach. “ _If she starts telling those other kids, I am gonna be up shit creek._ ”

The alarm rang mercilessly at 4:40 am. Hopper shut it off quickly, hoping Jane would go back to sleep if it had woken her. He got up and threw a few logs in the wood stove. Winter hadn’t broken its hold on Indiana yet, and the morning was bitterly cold. He plugged in the coffee maker and then moved to the bathroom to shower. Once he was dressed and the coffee was poured into a thermos, he walked to Jane's door to see if she was awake.

"Dad?” her voice was heavy and sleepy.

“Hey, kiddo.” He entered her room and knelt beside her bed. “Time for your old man to go to work. I’ll be back for a couple hours this afternoon. How bout you give some of those workbooks a shot and we can have Eggos for lunch?”

“Okay maybe,” she said, still drowsy.

“Okay maybe? She says okay maybe to Eggos? Where is Jane? Who are you?” he gently poked at her arm, wanting to tease her but not wake her up too much. She smiled and buried her face in the pillow.

“Jane is asleep!”

He leaned in and ruffled her hair. "Okay, sleepy Jane. I'll see you in little while.” He stood and turned to leave.

“Will you tell me today?” she was still mumbling into her pillow.

“What?” he was confused.

“About why you and Joyce are different. You said you’d explain later. Will you tell me today?”

He stood very still, unable to decide if he was annoyed that he had to think so much before his coffee or astonished that she could make him stumble when she was still half asleep. “Yeah, sure.” He grimaced, but his back was toward her. “ _Hopper what are you getting yourself into?!_ ” he scolded himself. “We'll try later tonight okay?”

He didn’t wait to catch her response. He gathered his gear and his thermos, threw on his hat, and left the house. He was halfway to the Blazer before he realized he wasn’t wearing his coat. “Oh, it’s gonna be a long day,” he thought grimly.

***

At 7:00 am, the police radio in the cabin went of. “Jane, are you there? Do you copy? What is status? Over.” Will Byers’ voice crackled over the air.

Jane, who had been sitting by the radio, altering it’s frequency to pick up the boys’ walkie talkies, snatched up the speaker. “Will, this is Jane. Experiment completed. He got flustered and defensive and wouldn’t look me in the eye. He even coughed. We have confirmation. Over.”

Will's voice came through again. “Excellent! Phase Two is a go, beginning now. I’ll alert the rest of the party. Reconvene at sixteen hundred hours. Over and out.”

Jane's eyes sparkled. She got up and sat at the kitchen table to study the workbooks. She hated the task, but it might make her dad more willing to humor her later on. She giggled out loud.

***

At 10 o'clock, Chief Hopper left his desk and walked out of the station, calling to Flo to get him on n the radio if anything urgent came in.

“Where are you going?” She called after him. "Hopper it's thirty degrees outside, where is your coat?"

“Gotta see a guy about a thing," he shouted as he climbed into the blazer. And he was gone.

He pulled into the Byers’ driveway few minutes later and walked up to the front door. He shook his head to try to collect himself and knocked. Joyce answered in a few seconds.

“Hop? What are you doing here? Is everything okay? Is Will--?”

“He's fine, everyone’s fine. Could I, uh, come inside a minute?”

She opened the door, ushering him in as quickly as she could and closing it behind him. She whirled around to face him and swatted his chest. “You scared me half to death! What are you doing here? You said you weren’t coming by today, I’m not even dressed!”

She was still standing close to his chest. His skin thrummed a little where she had hit him He looked down at her and smiled, cradling her head in his hand and kissing her gently. “Well, it’s not like you ever stay dressed for too long after I’m here anyway.”

She smiled and leaned into him, wrapping her arms around him and sliding her hands into his hair. “You pig.” She giggled.

“You don’t complain.” He reached down and squeezed her ass softly before releasing her from their embrace. “But I’m here cause we gotta talk.”

She looked at him, concerned. They hadn’t done much talking these last few weeks, when he would stop by in the late mornings after the kids were at school and she was working half days at the store. “But you said everything was okay. What’s happening?"

He stepped back and walked over to the couch, sinking into it and motioning for her to sit beside him. He hunched forward and dry-washed his face. “It’s Jane. She was asking me all sorts of questions about if I like you on the way home from dinner last night.  And then again this morning and I think she knows something!”

She looked at him closely. Their relationship began after as particularly stressful morning that had culminated in Hopper showing up at her house just as Lonnie was tearing out of the driveway. He’d shown up was the kids were rushing out the door for school, late because they'd all slept in, to demand that she sell the house and give him half the money for it, and they’d stood outside and argued for hours before someone driving past called the cops.

Hopper had tried to calm her down but the emotions about everything—Lonnie and the trouble with Will and losing Bob before she even knew what they had together—came rushing out until she was a sobbing mess in his arms. After the first fifteen minutes, she caught her breath and stilled, trying to process the fact that she was completely undone and Hopper was literally trying to hold her together. He hadn't moved except to help her get more comfortable. 

"Hop," she asked in a watery voice, "why are so good to me? 

"Because you've been through hell, Joyce, and I'm not about to leave you there. I'm not going to let you do this alone." 

She had continued crying into his chest at that. After she'd worn herself oit, he carried her to bed and told her to get some rest and that he would be back to check on her in a couple hours. She caught his arm and asked him to stay with her.

And he had. To the point where he had to pull on his pants and sneak out the bedroom window when the kids came home from school. He hadn't intended to stay that long, they fell asleep in each other's arms more soundly than they thought they would. She told the boys that his truck was parked outside to discourage Lonnie from stopping by again, and that he’d gotten one of the lieutenants to give him a ride back to the station.

After that, they’d worked out a better schedule but hadn’t really talked about what they were doing. He had been adamant about not getting caught by the children. Joyce realized that he would likely want to call it off, and wasn't sure if she was going to be able to hide her disappointment.

“So,” she said uncertainly, “we had better knock it off, huh?”

He drew a breath and kept his face in his hands. "Well, actually," his voice was high and tight in his chest, but she couldn't tell if he was upset or laughing,  "I wanted to see if maybe you wanted to, you know, date? And tell the kids and all that?"

"Jaime Hopper are you asking me to go steady?" She leaned in and kissed him gently. 

He met her brown eyes, saw the smile playing at her lips, and reached for her tiny hands. “Maybe,” he swallowed, “Maybe we should do this for real. Maybe go to the movies and out to dinner and tell the kids were going on dates and buy a big house and move in together and try to be a family?”

His voice was so soft. So hopeful. She leapt into his lap and kissed him deeply. “You want all that?” She pulled back to look into his eyes.

“Yeah. Yeah, I do. I know its too soon and all but—” She stopped him with another kiss.

"It is what it is. Life is too short to hold back like this. Let’s tell the kids.” She fell into his arms and straddled his lap.

“Should we work on what we’re gonna say?” His hands were everywhere, on her hips and running up and down her back.

“Later,” she said, leaning back to take off her pajama top. “Let’s see if we can figure out what they’re up to first. And there’s no sense in wasting time while we wait them out.”

She smiled. He smiled back. “You have the best ideas.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this has definitely grown a plot. It's coming through in cut scenes so Hopefully it makes sense. Im planning to finish it in just a few more chapters. Sorry for any typos. Sorry-not-sorry for any and all adorable fluffy headcanon. I need this crew to live happily ever after, okay?! :D

**4:00 pm. Friday. The Wheeler’s Basement.**

The kids had gathered around the gaming table, which had been cleared of everything except a walkie talkie. Nancy and Jonathan were squashed among them, unsure how they had been roped into attending this “party meeting” instead of studying for their physics test.

Dustin switched the walkie talkie on. “Jane, are you there?”

The radio buzzed. “I'm here. Are the recruits present?”

“Yes, Nancy and Jonathan are here. Dustin, get the visual aid.” Mike directed.

Dustin pulled a piece of posterboard from behind the couch and laid it on the table facing Nancy and Jonathan. It looked like a flowchart designed by a serial killer. The words “Project Jopper” featured prominently at the top.

“’Project Hopper?’” Nancy read aloud. “Mike, what is this.”

“’Jopper’ is a portmanteau of ‘Joyce’ and ‘Hopper'. It's like a compound. You put 'em together,” Dustin began, and the group groaned.

“Just get on with it!” Jane said, impatiently.

“I have to explain the terms!” Dustin objected.

“Dustin, if you have to explain the term, it’s a bad term! Just tell them what they need to know!” Lucas chided.

Dustin rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. Jonathan noticed he was also reading over a notebook. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to put into action phase two of Project Jopper. We will begin by getting the newest members of our party up to speed. So, without any further ado, Nancy and Jonathan, are you prepared to receive a series of facts that may actually blow your mind?”

Nancy and Jonathan smiled at each other. The kids were so funny sometimes. “Sure,” they agreed.

“Let us begin. Here’s what we know: Four weeks ago, Chief Hopper told Jane he was working a regular daylight shift and left the house at 7:00 am. This normally means that he arrives at work sometime between seven-thirty and eight o'clock. He works until one, then he either leaves for a few hours to come check on Jane and then returns to work at three, or he takes a regular lunch and returns to work at 2. Depending on what time he’s arrived at work and how long his lunch was, he gets done with work anywhere between 4:30 and 7:00. On the day in question, he was expected to take a normal lunch and be home by 5. However, he radioed Jane at 3:30 pm to say that there had been a problem at work and he wasn’t going to be home until at least 9:00 pm.”

“He’s the Chief of Police. I’m sure things come up like that all the time,” Nancy said, not unkindly. “Right, Jane?” she called into the radio.

The radio crackled but Jane's voice came through steadily and clearly. “There’s more.”

“Right, sure,” Dustin continued. “Earlier that morning, Jane heard a call on the police radio _from_ Flo _to_ all available units asking where Hopper was at 9:30 am, and Hopper got on the radio shortly after and said he thought he was working the afternoon shift for Callahan that day. He apologized, said that he was out of the area, and would be in at noon for the afternoon shift start.”

Nancy frowned. “Okay, so he lied? Why didn’t you just start with that?”

“I told you!” interjected Lucas.

“I am building a narrative!” Dustin shouted back, “And we all agreed that this story needs to be told in a certain way to make sense, and—”

“Oh, my god, I don’t even care anymore! I can’t listen to this!” Lucas rolled his eyes, and then looked at Nancy. “Look, remember when Max and Jane talked to you during Dinner Night at the Byers because I was being an idiot and Max was confused? And thank you for the advice, by the way,” he grabbed Max’s hand and winked, “because the week after that, she held my hand and hasn’t let go, and this has been really special. But,” he focused his attention back on Nancy, “the point is that Jane started noticing that her dad was looking at Joyce Byers the same way that I was looking at Max. And she noticed that Joyce was looking at her dad the same way that Max was looking at me. And then a week later, Lonnie shows up and raises hell and Chief swoops in and scares him off. And then a week after that, he tells Jane he’s working, but Jane hears the station looking for him on the radio.”

Nancy knitted her eyebrows. She certainly hadn’t meant to plant wild thoughts in anyone’s heads when she talked to Jane and Max all those weeks ago. She could tell that Max was flustered by Lucas, and she’d remembered being a few years younger and feeling the same uncertain way about boys. She had only been trying to help. Concerned, she glanced up at Jonathan, who had an unreadable expression on his face.

“But still,” Nancy says uncertainly. “That doesn’t mean that—”

The radio crackled again. “Dad says her name sometimes in his sleep. He always has. And he’s been leaving for work early and the staying late once a week, sometimes more, since that day the mouthbreather Lonnie came to Will's house.”

Jonathan frowned. No one was working the radio. “How is she doing that?” he whispered.

Mike smiled. “She's our friend, and she’s special. She figured out how to manipulate the channels of the police radio we can all talk.”

The radio crackled again. “The call I heard wasn’t on a channel the radio here is supposed to get. I was bored, so I was browsing.”

Jonathan shook his head. He very much loved the strange girl who had come into their lives, but he was more than astonished by the things she was capable of.

Lucas continued, “So, the Chief has been telling Jane he's working when he hasn't been. And then Will noticed that these days are the same days your mom goes in to work late. And then your mom,” he gestured at Mike and Nancy, “started yelling at your dad about going dancing a few weeks ago, and your dad said he couldn’t dance, and your mom said that even Jim Hopper could dance and started in on this long story about Chief and Joyce at American Legion dances back in the day—”

“What? When was this?” Nancy asked, astonished that Mike hadn’t mentioned such a row.

Mike looked sheepish. “A few Fridays ago when you two were at the movies. They were both in bed by the time you got home, and it’s such a weird thing to talk about…” he trailed off.

Nancy reached out and grabbed her brothers hand. She knew their parents’ relationship upset him, even if he didn’t always know why. “Its okay, bud. I’m sorry.” She leaned back and cleared her throat. “Okay, so I admit, this all seems a little suspicious. And maybe, if it works out, it will be good for your mom and dad. But we shouldn’t do anything we're not certain of. We don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.” For some reason, Steve Harrington’s face flashed across her mind and she flinched.

“Well, we did an experiment last night,” Will spoke up. “Jane made certain to observe them all night, and they were completely into each other. She asked Chief about it on the way home and he got flustered and then embarrassed and denied the whole thing. This morning, he left for work even earlier than he usually does. And this morning was another half-day for Mom at the store.”

More static. “And he just came home for lunch and said he’d have to work late tonight. Even after going in so early. And I heard on the radio he left the station at 9:00 and didn’t come back until after 11:00. Even if he would have stayed with me another hour, he should have had a full day in by five. But he was gone all morning so he has to stay later. The times match up. I saw his face. And Joyce's. They want to be together. Friends make each other happy.” The radio warbled. “My dad should be happy and Joyce should be happy.”

“And now we feel like we have enough evidence to proceed,” Will finished. “Which is where you come in.”

Nancy glanced at Jonathan. His face was drawn, as if he were actually considering what the kids were suggesting. “If something is going to happen between your mom and the Chief, we have to let them come together on their own, we can’t just—”

“They’re already together!” Jane’s voice came crisp and clear across the radio, almost as if she were in the room. “That’s what we've been telling you!”

Nancy made a face. She didn’t want to discourage the kids and their game, but this was going too far. “There's a lot of speculation, and a lot of good clues, but isn’t it a little bit of a stretch?”

Jonathan reached out and put his hand on Nancy's. He looked almost relieved, S though something that had been bothering him suddenly made sense. “Nance, do you remember the day they’re talking about? With what that cop told us? My mom said something that night that didn’t—”

“Whoa, what cop? The security guy?” Will cut him off. The room erupted into chaos.

“What? Something else happened?” Jane yelped over the radio.

Lucas shook his head. “Man, what else do you know?”

Dustin was transfixed. “Man, this just got so much better! Spill it!”

Nancy blinked at Jonathan. “But you said not to mention it—”

He shook his head. “I think it’s time,” he said quietly. He turned to face his brother. “Will, I’m sorry, I really didn’t want to mention it because I didn’t know what was going on, but now…” he trailed off. The, he turned to face the group, speaking clearly. It was going to be quite a story, in light of the current discussion. “Okay, it was after school on the day that Lonnie came to ambush mom…”

**3:10 pm, The First Monday**

Nancy and Jonathan were putting their books into the trunk after school. The elementary kids got done with school a few minutes later than the high schoolers, so they chatted outside the car while they waited for Will. They noticed a police cruiser parked down the street and two cops seeming to pace around the schoolyard nearby.

“Jonathan,” Nancy said quietly, nodding in their direction. “Does that seem strange to you?”

Jonathan regarded the situation. “No stranger than usual, I guess,” he said. “Those two are Hawkins cops, the two that arrested me after Steve and I fought last year. Chief seems to think they’re okay, but they’re kind of idiots.”

He and Nancy were still sharing a laugh over the statement when one of the cops began to walk towards them. “Shhh,” Jonathan warned.

The man walked briskly, ambling in an awkward gate. He squinted his eyes and smiled. “Hey, kids!” he waved.

“Hi'” Jonathan called back.

The man was waving as he came close. “You’re Jonathan Byers.”

Jonathan gave a tight smile. “Yep, that’s me.”

“Good! I’m Officer Callahan.” He thrust his hand forward.

Jonathan took it, carefully swallowing the terse greeting of “Yeah, we’ve met” that was rising in his throat.

“Good. Got the right kid,” Callahan said to Jonathan. “So, I gotta apprise you of a bit of a situation. First thing you gotta know is Hopper ran your old man off and kept an eye on your mom today, so you’re not walking into a war zone when you get home.” The man kept his eyes steady under his large black glasses and nodded reassuringly as he spoke, but Jonathan’s stomach lurched. What was he talking about? Did Lonnie’s visit turn ugly? Why was Hopper there? And who was this fucking guy? He glanced across the parking lot at Will, chattering with his friends at the bike rack as he always did after school. At least he was out of earshot for this conversation. “A war zone? The cops are there? Is she alright? Who called them? What happened?” The past few years of terrifying news had left his nerves raw. He needed to know exactly what was happening.

“Hey, kid, sorry, everything’s fine, that’s what I’m telling you.” He was still nodding, like he had much more to say. “Someone noticed the two of them standin outside fightin this morning and everyone knows he’s not welcome at your mother’s house no more so someone called it in. Hop showed up and took care of it, and he’s stickin around until you guys get home safe from school. Now, he wanted me and Officer Powell over there,” he gestured towards the other officer who was now picking through a garbage can at the other end of the parking lot for some reason, “to keep an eye on you after school and kinda tail you home to make sure your dad wasn’t lurkin around for you. And your dad’s not here and don’t appear to be anywhere nearby, which is good news! Bad news is that I kinda lost the keys to the cruiser somehow while I was waiting for you, so we've had to go to Plan B.”

Nancy saw the trouble still swimming in Jonathan’s eyes, but from what she could understand of the cop's somewhat rambling story, everything was okay. She reached out to hold Jonathan’s hand and leaned against him, letting him steady himself against her. “Plan B?” she asked, hoping the man would begin making more sense.

“Yeah. So, Chief told us to lay low and trail you, and only step in if your dad came around. So we’ve been sittin over there by the edge of the schoolyard most of the day waitin to see if your dad showed up, and he never did. So, good news! And we was going to follow you home just now, but I can’t find the keys to the car. Now, Powell didn’t want me sayin nothin because he thinks Chief will be real mad if I tell you all, but I think you kids are pretty cool, and you can just give us a ride back your house, and Chief can take us back to the station so we can get the spare keys, and everythin will be just fine.” He continued his goofy nodding and slow, friendly tone.

Nancy tried to hide a smile against Jonathan’s arm and tried to catch his eye, wanting to make sure he knew everything was indeed okay and that this man was some kind of idiot. Jonathan looked down at her, his face softening as he began to nod as well.

“So, what you’re really saying is, Hopper told you to keep an eye on me and my brother and wanted you to keep a lid on it, but you messed up, and now you want a ride to my house?” he asked. His chest loosened and he began to shake lightly with stifled laughter. No matter what else happened, the image of Chief Hopper telling Lonnie Byers to pound salt was a good thing.

The smile widened and the nodding continued. “Exactly.”

Jonathan paused. “Now what were you saying about ‘everybody knows’ my dad isn’t welcome at my mom’s house? There isn’t a restraining order.” Jonathan had begged his mom to get one for herself a long time ago, but she refused, saying that Lonnie would use it as an excuse to never see his kids. Jonathan knew on some level she was right; Lonnie was always trying to blame Joyce for his fractured relationship with his children, as if him calling his sons “fags” and “sissies” had nothing to do with it. Joyce wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of a legal document he could pull out and use to garner sympathy at the bar as he cried that his bitch ex-wife kept him away from his adoring sons.

Callahan cocked his head to the side as if he didn’t understand the question. “Well, there’s nothing on the books, no. But plenty enough people know what he’s about, and they don’t wand to see him giving you all any trouble. He must've turned tail when he heard the police sirens, Hop said Lonnie Byers was peeling out of the driveway by the time he pulled up. Anyways, we kept an eye on you today and Hop took care of your mom and we just need a ride back so he can us our spare keys at the station.”

“George Callahan, you shut your mouth!” the man who had been pawing through the trash was running towards them waving his hands in the air. “I found the keys, we don’t have to tell them anything, you just shut up and the Chief never has to know anything!”

Jonathan and Nancy stared, their looks clearly conveying that they had already been told about Plan B. The man continued, “You already told them. Don’t say another word, Callahan! Kids, really, I’m so sorry. My partner is a little, well, stupid at times. And then he gets even more stupid when he runs his mouth. I apologize, truly. But I have the car keys, and I’m certain we can just discretely follow you home now, and the Chief doesn’t need to know any of this happened, right?” His coat had a few unsavory-looking smears on it, and his face had the tight grimace of a man who had experienced an exceptionally long day.

Jonathan was overwhelmed with relief that nothing was wrong. He smiled and nodded earnestly. “Yeah, sure. That’s fine. Thank you for looking out for us.”

“Who’s looking out for us and why?” Will's voice was clear but curious as he appeared behind the four people who were now kind of making a scene beside his brother's car.

Jonathan shot a look at the officers, then said “Oh, it’s just a schoolyard security thing. You ready to go?”

“Sure!” Will said, climbing into the backseat and buckling up.

The policemen looked at him appreciatively. Nancy left his side to walk around to the passenger side. “Hey, whatever happened, thanks to Hawkins’ finest for taking care of it. We won’t say anything. Have a good night.” He nodded at them and opened his car door. Whatever had gone on was taken care of, he trusted the Chief to do that much.

He dropped Nancy off, and he and Will chatted about the latest mixtape they were making on the way home. He wasn't surprised to see the Chief's Blazer parked in the driveway, but apparently Will hadn’t caught on to the policemen’s presence after school, because he shouted “Hopper’s here! Awesome!” upon seeing the vehicle. Jonathan waved to the officers in the cruiser that rolled past as he was entering the house.

He was surprised to find the house dark. Will paused in the doorway behind him. “Mom?” Jonathan called. There was no answer. He walked back the hallway. He didn’t want to disturb her if she was resting, but where was the Chief, if she was asleep? “Mom?” he tried again.

This time, he heard rustling in his mother’s room. “Sorry, sweetie,” she called from within. “I was laying down, I thought I’d be up before you got home. I’ll be out in just a minute!” Jonathan stopped in the hallway. He heard more rustling and the mattress squeak in his mother’s bedroom and suddenly decided he didn’t want to investigate further.

Will, on the other hand, took no such notice. He raced to his bedroom to begin unpacking his bookbag. “Where’s Hopper?” he called. “I want to show him the new map I made!”

There were mire noises. Jonathan raced to his room to turn on his stereo. He didn’t know what was about to happen but there were too many things that didn’t make sense, and he didn’t want to try to guess what was happening on the other side of his mother’s bedroom door.

“Hopper?” their mothers voice was high-pitched. She almost sounded confused. “Hopper isn’t here, baby. He left hours ago.”

“His truck’s in the driveway!” Will hollered above the music.

“I—Just hold on a minute!” now she sounded hurried and almost annoyed.

Jonathan walked out of his room and into the kitchen. “Hey, Will, come help decide what’s for dinner!” Jonathan tried to lead his brother to the other end of the house. Whatever was going on, Will was unaware of it, and it would be best to keep it that way.

Will followed him into the kitchen and the boys began to debate between spaghetti or tuna noodles for dinner. Joyce emerged from her bedroom and stopped in the bathroom before joining them.

“Where’s Chief?” Will asked instantly.

Joyce cleared her throat. “He left a few hours ago, he just left his car here to keep Lonnie away. Got a ride back to the station from one of the other officers. I’m sorry, baby. You can show him your map when he and Jane come over on Thursday, huh?”

She seemed flustered in a way Jonathan couldn’t quite explain. Lonnie's visits usually left her fuming, but now she seemed almost guilty. And what she said didn’t match at all what Officer Callahan had told him less than an hour ago. Still, than man had seemed like an idiot. Maybe there was much more going on than Jonathan could even guess. “Mom,” he started, trying to get her to look at him while she walked past him to get a glass of water from the sink, “is everything alright?”

She turned and flushed a little, staring at her glass of water and not at either of her children. “Alright? Yeah, I think it is.”

“With Lonnie,” he pressed. “Do we have to do something to make him—”

Joyce startled at the mention of her ex's name and looked sharply at Jonathan. “Lonnie? No, Lonnie’s gone. And he won’t come back. I told him if he came around without calling first one more time to pick fights like that, I’d file the restraining order.” She straightened shoulders and set the glass down on the counter. “And he knows I meant it, too. Now, what do you two want for dinner?”

Whatever trouble had been playing at Joyce's face melted away as she began to focus on getting caught up with her sons and their days at school. Jonathan was certain there was something happening that he wasn’t aware of, but his mother seemed relatively untroubled and he decided that was the most important thing. And, whatever was happening, it seemed as though Chief Hopper would be nearby to step in if they needed it.

 **4:45 pm. Friday. The Wheelers basement**.

More chaos ensued as all of the kids began to howl in disbelief.

“Will, your brother has been holding out on us!” Max yelled. She wasn’t angry, though. “This is shocking!” her voice broke into a giddy kind of laughter.

Nancy sputtered. “You didn’t tell me Hopper wasn’t at your house that night! And you didn’t tell me what your mom said!”

“So we know he was at your house? In your mom’s bedroom!” Jane sounded stunned.

Jonathan was blinking slowly, looking first at Nancy, then to the kids, then back to Nancy. “I think it all falls into place, doesn’t it?”

Nancy scrunched up her face. “It’s just a lot to process.” Then she opened her eyes. “But, I have to admit, it all comes together to paint a pretty clear picture.” She looked at the kids’ faces, who all seemed flushed with the recent knowledge and breathless with anticipation of having her help. “Can I ask, through, why you all seem to want this to happen?”

Mike answered. “If the Chief and Joyce get married, Jane can have a real family, with a mom and brothers and everything. They can all live together and Jane won’t have to be alone all summer before she starts school.” His big brown eyes were flooded with concern and hope for his Jane.

“I can have friends with me,” came Jane’s voice across the radio.

Nancy looked at Jonathan, who was now smiling broadly with the thought of being part of a bigger family. No doubt he would be happy to see his mother with a strong partner. “Well, okay. What do we have to do?”

“Yes!” Will shouted exuberantly.

Dustin tore out two pages from the notebook. “We made you instructions!” he said proudly. “Okay, so the first step is going to be—”

“Mike! It's five o'clock, time to get ready for dinner!” Karen Wheeler called down the stairs.

The kids all scrambled to hide the walkie talkie and the posterboard. “We'll be right there!” Mike called.

“Have you seen your sister? I thought she and Jonathan—”

“We're down here, Mom!” Nancy called. She stood up, folding her paper quickly and shoving it into her pocket. Then, in a whisper, she turned to Mike and Will. “You guys can get us caught up later today or tomorrow, okay? I have to get done with dinner and start studying before I forget everything from class today.” Then, she turned and raced up the stairs.

Jonathan rose as well. “Come on, kid, she’s right. You can tell me on the way home. It’s five, you gotta eat some dinner,” he said as he followed Nancy up the stairs.

The kids looked at each other, grinning broadly. They couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. Jonathan and Nancy had joined their cause, and Jane was only a few steps away from becoming part of a complete family.

Dustin beamed. “Dude, your sister is so cool.”

Mike rolled his eyes. “Shut up, Dustin.”

“He's right,” Jane said. “We can’t do this without her.”

Lucas reached for Max’s hand again. “Yeah,” he said softly.

Mike groaned. “Okay, she’s pretty cool.”

“Mike!” Karen sounded less patient this time.

He grabbed the radio. “Okay, Jane. Phase Two is underway. Reconvene in Sunday. Over and out.” The boys clambered up the stairs.

At the cabin, Jane sat in front of the radio with her eyes shining. Her heart raced. It was all going to come together for her soon, she could feel it.

To be continued…

 

 


End file.
